Steering-wheel lock



May 26, 1925.

F` VlNCENT sranRING WHEEL Loox Original Filddune 22, 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet l Z i a u u A. ZH. n u1u, A M M J 0 a 4? #www 1 a n M 7 5 s4 4l 2 SSE I infr, /v

'May 26, 1925.

F. VINCENT STERING WHEEL LOCK WE u y 933 ITP; @uo/m3 May 26, 1925.

-' .F. VINCENT srsxnne WHEEL Loox original :md June 22, 1921 3 sheets-sheet. `z

amm,

Patented May 26, 1925.

U'Ni'rno STATES 'FREDERICK VINCENT, OF DETROIT, MIGHGAN.

STEERING-WHEEL Lock.

@riginal application 'filed Jnne'22, 1921, Serial No. '19, 1923.

To all 'lo/071i fit may concern.'

Be it known that l, FREDERICK VINCENT, a citizen of the EUnited States, Aand residing at Detroit, in the county ot' XVa'yne and-State of li'lichigan, have rinvented a new and llinproved Steering-iVheel Lock, ot which the following is a speciiication.

rEhis invention Arelates to steering wheels adapted 'for hat -not limited Eto yuse on the Ford't-ype of automobiles, that is, 'niotor've hicles in which the steering' sha'lt is in Etwo parts connected hy `a speed reducing' mechanism nionnted -in acasingnt the upper end oi the steering post and a steering' wheel 'is attached to one -ot' said pa1-ts,-and its object is to provide a structin'eot this character in which the steering wheel .may be locked to said casing'to'preventrthe `wheel and-'the two parts-ot the shaft troni'tnrning- Thisapplication is a division otniy co-pending application Serial Niii1iliei.4r79,GL-7, iiledi'inne 2. lllQil.

This invention consists in a niain steering .shaft mounted in "the nsnalstecring ypost 'of a vehicle, casing at the upper end ot' the post7 a stub shai't,anda steeringwheel thereon, the stnh sha't't extending down into lthe casingl and preferably guided `in a central hereof the niain shaft,gearseonneetingthe shafts7 and means iInonnted on the steering wheel and adapted to extend into the Casing' to preventthe actuation-ofthe niain shaffthy the stub shaft.

This invention further consists in a lock barrel vinonnted in tthe steering wheel and having; a holt adapted to he inoved vinto the casing between the gears therein 'to prevent the. actuation of the Ainain'shait by the stnh shaft. l

This vinvention also'consists in a. cover-for the cap oi the casing' :into which the two parts ot the steering'shal't extench'the cover preventing'.removal of the cap from the-casino' and access to the planetary 'gearing' which is inoniited 'withinthe casing'.

rThis inventionalso consists in vthedetails "t construction illustratedY in .the accompanying' drawings and 4particularly pointed ont inthe claims.

ln the accompanying' drawings', Figs. 'l andfQ .are central vlongitndinal sections of he Lnear casing'rand hnh'oi a steering `wheel showing' alcol: in twopositions, Fig vis a section on the 'line 2l let Figi'. l. Fin: et

a plan oi' the ysteering''head and'loclr. Fig:A

479,627. VDivided end this application 'le 'January Serial No. $13,584.

5 'is a plan of the'cent'ral port-ion ot'a. tiltingloclring steering wheel 'embodying 'the' .presont invention. lligs isa longitudinalisecr` tion thereof and oit the 'gear'easing'icon-VA nected thereto, Fig. T is a. similar seetion'oi' al wheel showing the lock in inoperative position. Fig'. is a siinilar view showing' a modified torni of lock in operative position. Fig'. 9 is a. section'on a snialler'scale on the line 99of Fig'. 8. AFig. il0 .isa sec.- tion similar to Fig. G ot still another moditi ation ofthis steering wheel. lFig. -11 is n' A plan thereof.

Similar reference characters freier 5to like parts throughout the several views. v

The present structuresfdilti'er troni 'niost for" those ot the prior art in that Pthe steering;` shaft 22nd wheel 1niay lie 'locked against vrotatin g', theldevices of the prior aitibeingusnally constructed to release the xwheel'i'roni the steering shaft and a lot-lr heilig Lnsnnlly xprovided to prevent-the connector 'between the steering wheel and steering shaft lironi hein `ffni'oved intofoporath-'efposition. vlirorder to loc-l; the vsteering` wheel troni tnrning,1a relatively stationary partei' the 'vehicle nin-st he employed, and in the presentcase il inakev use of thegear easing' which enclosesithe reduction `gearing hetweenlthe steering' wheell andthe niain'steering shaftlthe easingbeingrigid with the upperlendotthe steering :post within whiehthe-steering s'haft is mounted. As the steeringshait andy-'steering' post are well known Ein `thisart7 I have 'shownionly thenpper ends thereof. f

{Referringfnow fto "'Figs.' l to 4l inehisiietthe cylindricall easing' 1`1hasfaihottorn Qattached to thetop 0'1"? lthe steering' post 3,-'and is valso provided with yintei'al rack teeth it and external threads 5 Ato receive ith-e internally threaded flange 6 of the cap 7. The upper Vend of the main stee1'i1ig.-'slia'tt 8 is iornied with a-iiange Qiwhiclioarries pins 'l0 on which *the planetary :gears 1l are .niountcd. A stub shaft :13 hasgapinion '14 attached to or lformed integral with it and its lower en'd l5 extends down and is journnledinthe bore of the niain shaft'il A "bnshingl within the'sleeve 1T on the cap .Talso--serives to .guide this stnh shaft. The finechanism thus iarldescrihed is well known.

I providey a washer 18,'shownin Fig'. 3, on which the bushing' liisperniitte'd to rest in order `to elevate vit so that it iiia'v serve to support the steering head 20 Awhose vontline is shown in Fig. 4, and which has a recess 21 to receive the sleeve 17 on the cap, an internal flange 22 to rest on the bushing 16, and an upper recess 23 to receive the hub 24 of the steering wheel which fits on theV` upper end of the stub shaft 13 and is secured thereto by the key 25`and nut 26. The key 25 extends down through a key seat or notchv 27 in the internal flange 22,as shown in Figs. i' 1 and 2, in order to cause the steering head to turnwith the steering wheel. I also provide theV steering headwithvlateral notches 28, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, through which the arms 29 of the steering wheel extend.

The steering head is also formed with a longitudinal recess 31 to receive the lock Vbodyv 32,` with a longitudinal hole 'through which the locking bolt 33 extends from the lock body, and with two lateral notches 34 and 35 into which the latch pin 36 may extend. A A spring 37 presses upward against i the lock body, and the cap 7 of the gear cas-` ing has4 openings 88, preferably three in number, through which the bolt 33 may move ,down among thergears in this casing. A plate 39 is secured tothe top of the steering head by means ol' screws 40 to help-se` cure the steering wheel tothe steering head and this plate is preferably formed with a' tongue 41 which extends into a groove 42 in the lock barrel and limits its movement. It desired, the steering head may be formed with a flange 44 having a groove to receive the packing strip 45 lwhichprevents dust getting up into the recess 21. The `washer 18"is.1 formed with any desired number of notches -46 to .permit the locking bolt to pass down between the planetary gears 11. Y

Whenthe parts are as shown in Fig. 2 and the steering Wheel is rotated, the pinion 14 rotates with it and causes the planetary gears to rot'ateyand revolve around the axis of the stub shaftl. But this is preventedwhen the locking bolt 33 ismoved down into the space Ibetween any two of these planetary v the use Vof a key 47.

gears, wherethe bolt y33 will be held bythe latch pin 36 when it vextends into the notch 35. Y The wheel cannot be released except by So long as the steering wheel is locked from turning, the nut 26 is prevented from turning by the flat side 48 on the upper flange 49 of the lock barrel. See Fig. 4.

. But when the lock and wheel Iare released byfa person holding a key for thelock, the

flange is raised sufficiently to permit this nut y to be removerhaitter which the steering head may be taken ofi'. 1

Vhen asteering wheel is desired which' can be tilted or swung upto give more room for the entrance of the'driver; theV structure @shown inY F igs. 5 to 9 may be employed.

AUl

The casing,` thegears therein and the stub shaft are the sameasthose above described.

and which are secured-*to the rim by screws 57, and of the arms 58 which extendl radially in` opposite directions from the central parts of the arms to the rim. A latch block 59 is secured betweenthe bolts 60.

vThe steering head has a recess 62 to receive the sleeve 17 and bushing 16, on which thehead rests. A key the head tothe stub shaft 13 andthis nut may be formed with a flange 65 to receive the hub 66 of a horn button 67 which is normally held up by thespring. 68. See Fig. 7. The stub shaft 13 islformed with a passage e 69 for the yhorn wire 70 which is provided with a nut 71 at its upper end, the washer 72 of non-conducting material serving to center and support the nut. A stem 73 is adapted to close .the horn ycircuit when the button 67 is depressed.v Y l The steering head has a recess 74 -tor the yarms 55 by the- 63 and nut 64 secure` c arms 55 which are connected by the bolts 56 lock body 75 and two notches 76 and 77, the Y former normally registering with the notch 78 in the latch block 59. The lock has` a locking bolt 81 and a latch pin 79 adapted1 to be withdrawnrby the key 80 and the body is under upward tensionby the spring 82 so that as soon as the key is turned to withdraw the latch pin 79 from` the notchV 77 the spring presses the lockupward to the posi-l T he Vupward movement of the lock is Vlimited by the tongue 81I` Vtion shownin Fig. 7.`

secured to the steering head and slidable in the groove 82a. Vhen the lock is n'ts up-V the circular edge 84 of the nut 64 when vthe lock is depressed so that this nut cannot be released until the key 80 has been turned to withdraw thelatch pin. 79 from the recess V j 77 to permit thelock to move to the position shown in Fig. 7. r

- A cup shaped. shieldl consisting of the circular portion 86v and the lange 87--may be attached to the lower end ofthe wheel ,head

52 by means of screws` 89 'to prevent access tothe cap 7, and planetary gearing, and a packing ring 88 may be placed between this Y shield and-cap to keep out dust. vThe partf or cover 86 may be 'of hardened metal.

`.In thestructure shown inuFigs.v 8v and 9, thecasing 1 and the parts connected thereto are practically the same as those above de;`

y structions. l

from tilting.

scribed. The wheel head 92 is formed with a recess 93 lto receive the lock body'94 which has a latch pin 95 adapted fto enter the notches 96 `and 97. The locking boltv98 is the same and for the same-purpose as the bolts 3S and 81 of the al'iove described con--` lhe lock body has a flange v99 at its upper cud and a collar 100at yits'lowerend,-which collar is secured in the position shown after the plate 102 and spring 103 areislippedonto the loci; body. The lock body and the spring 103 are then slipped down into the recess 9?) and the plate 102 is secured in position by the screws 1021. ln this case, the locking bolt is vnormally pressed down between the planetary 'gears and when the latch pin 95 is withdrawn from the notch 96, the spx-ing 103 will force down this bolt- 98. it will strike the plate 7, after which the steering wheel will be turned until this lm-lting bolt registers with an opening S8 in the cap 7 and enters the casing.

The structure shown in Fig. 1 embodies a casing, stub shaft, steering head and steering wheel. That of Fig. 2 embodies a casing, stub shaft, wheel head and steering wheel. The structure shown in `lligs. 10 and 11 embodies acasing, stub shaft, steering head7 steering wheel head and steering wheel'. f

The casing, `stub shaftand the parts between them are the same ias those shown in Fig. 1. The steering wheel iseonstrncted in the same maner as tha-tl shown in Fig. 5 and the same reference characters are used to designate similar parts.

The steering head 105hasarecess 10G into which the sleeve 17 and bushing 1G eX-tend and a recess 107 'in which the lock body '10S is slidably mount-ed, thebody having a locking bolt 109 extendingdown through lthe opening 110 inthehead. Aspiring 111 is mounted in this rec-essv 107. The steering head also has an internal 'flange 112 which rests on the bushing 16 andis positioned thereby. It is further provided with .the

notches 113 andlll, the former being alined with the notch-115 in the latch blo'cl`59jso that when the steering wheelv is inthe 'position indicated in these two drawings, the latch pin 116 will extend throngh'the notch 113 into the notch 115 and prevent the wheel As in the struc-ture shown in Fig. 1, the steering head may-have a flan-ge l1 provided with afpacking ring 45 to bear on the cap 7 and prevent dustffrom entering the recess 106 andthe openings 3S in the cap7.'

r1`he steering head has a recess 117 to -receive the hub 11S ofthe wheel head which has an arm 119 in whose outerend'the pin 5.?, is mounted as above described. The wheel head and the steering head' are keyed to the shaft 13 by a key 120'and bya nut 26.

- shaft by Vsaid wheel.

A- 'plate i122 isi secured to the 'top olf thefsteerof Figs. l"1 ft'o 4 inclusivefand oifligs. 10fand 1&1 lies'chieiiy inthe slots 128 through whichv the`four arms of the steering wheel-spider extend and in the slot 125 thro-ugh which lthe arm 119 fof the wheelheadextends. The same pattern may be used for both steering heads.

The details of construction land the pro-y portions of'the parts may all be changed by those skilled-in the art without departing` from `the spirit of my invention as set forth in the followingclaims. f 'i l claim 1. In steering mechanism, a rotatable steering shaft, a steering wheel mounted thereon to turn therewith and removable end'wise of said shaft, a nuthaving flat sides and attached to said shaft and 'engag-ing,r said wheel to prevent removal of said wheel, anda slidablc locking member having engagement with a iiat side ofthe nut ito preventremoval of said nut from the shaft, 'removal of 'said wheelbeing prevented until the mit fis "removed from the shaft.

2.l In steering mechanism, af'rotat-'able steering shaft', a steering wheel hub mounted thereon to vturn therewith and removable from 'said shaft, afmember removably at-` tached to said shaft above said wheel hub to prevent removal of said wheel hub, a movable locking member mounted in vsaid hub adapted to occupy two positions and when in one position to allow and when .in the other position co=operating with said removable 'member 'to prevent removal of said removable member from 'said shaft, said wheel 'hub being removable from 'the shaft after'sa'id member isr'emoved 'from the shaft. Y y e 3. In steering mechanism, a rotatable steering shaft, a stationary fcasin'g for said shafoa steering Awheel comprising a hub mountedon and vremovable from said shaft, means removably connected to said shaft and adapted to overlie said vwheel hub to prevent removal of said wheel .freni vsaid shaft, and slidable llocling means earriedby said wheel huband adapted to engage said stationary casing and said first 'mentioned means to prevent removal of said iirst mentioned means and wheel from saidshaft and simultaneously prevent rotation i of said 4f. ln steering mechanism, a rotatable steering shaft, a1 steeringwheel head mounted on and removable from said shaft, a mem-V ber threaded tothe upper end of said shaft to preventremoval of said wheel head from the shaft, a loc-kmovablein the wheel yhead Cil longitudinally of the shaft, said lock when in one position co-operating with said member to prevent removal of `it from the sha-ft and simultaneously preventing rotation 4of the Wheel head and 'shaft,said lock when in another position allowing removal ofsaid 4member and vwheel head from the shaft andv allow rotation of saidshaft, `and meansv to-V secure the lock inl eithery of said two positions.

5. The combination With a steering gear including a rotatable steering shaft, a steer-` ing Wheel, an internal stationary gear, a Vdrive pinion operated by the Wheel, rotatable and bodily rotatable gears meshing with the stationary gear and pinion, a gear locking member carried by the-Wheel above said gear-sand rotatable about the axis of said shaft and adapted to be moved downwardly and/longitudinally of the shaft and locked in the path of travel of said bodily rotatable gears.

6.`The combination with a. steering gear,

including a rotatable` steeringshaft, a'lsteering Wheel, an internal stationary gear, "a drive pinion operated by the wheel, rotatable and bodily rotatable gears meshing with the stationary gear yand pinion, a gear locking member carried by the Wheel and rotatable about the axis of said shaft and ladapted to be moved longitudinally of said ing Wheel, an internal stationary gear, a'

shaft in the path of travel of said bodily rotatable gears to preventtheir operation, means to lock said locking member in the l. path of travel of said bodily rotatable gears, and means to move and hold said locking member out-of the path of travel of said bodily rotatable gears. j Y

7. The combination With a steering gear including a rotatable steering shaft, a steerdrive `pinion operated vby the Wheel, rotatable and lbodily rotatable gears meshing with the 'stationary' gear and pinion, a key operated lock and locking member movable together and carriedbythe wheel and ro- `tatable about the axisofsaid shaft, said locking member adapted to be moved in vthe path of travel of said bodily rotatable gears to prevent their operation, said key operated e lock adapted to positively lock said locking memberin and out of the path of travel of said bodily rotatable gears to prevent and permity operation of said. gears;` Y

8. Inasteering Wheeland rotatable shaft locking means, a Wheel head connectedito the steering Wheel and rotatabletherewith,A

a movableloeking member mounted in said Wheel head and slidable tooperative or inoperative positions and when in ,operati-ve position adapted to prevent rotation of the Wheel head and shaft, a surface of said locking member extend-ing beyond lthe WheelA head so that said locking member can be manuallyslid to operative position and re.

silient means mounted in the head to slide said locking member to inoperative position, and key operated locking means to. lock the locking member inoperative position. 'i

9. In combination, a rotatable, steering shaft, a ,Wheel` hub` mounted on and vto rotate with said shaft, a stationary member, a movable membeijmounted in theihead and slidable longitudinally of the shaft to operative or inoperative-positions and when in operative positionv adapted yto engage said stationary member to prevent rotation of thewheel lhub and shaft, said movable member adapted to extend above the Wheel hub so that said movable member may be manually slidy .fromf inoperative to Voperative position, a spring mounted-1n sald vWheel hub for sliding said movable member from operative to inoperative position, and a keycontrolled detent adapted to lock said movable member. in eitheroperative or inoperative posi- ,tions Y e 10. In combination, a rotatable steering.

shaft, a wheel hubV mounted on and to rotate with said shaft, a stationarymember, a movable member mounted in thehead andv slidsof able longitudinally of the shaft to operative or inoperative positions and when in operative position adapted to engage saidv station- Y ary'member to prevent rotation of the Wheel hub and shaft, said movable member adapted to extend above 'the wheel hub so that said movable member maybe manually slidl from inoperative to operative position, a r0-V tatable keyfeontrolled lockzand a movable detent adapted to` positively lock said movnally in the Wheel structureand adapted to project into said casing to lock the Wheel structure rigid With'said casing. Y

12. In combination with a-steering shaft,- a stationary casing therefor, a removable head mounted on and to rotate with the shaft, a removable Wheel structure rigidly mounted on the head, and means carried by 12u l Vsaid head to lockthe Wheel structure and i the head together when theshaft is rotat- Y lable relative tothe casing or lock the Wheel structure and head against rotation. relative to said casing and simultaneously prevent the head and Wheel structure frombeing removed Vfrom said shaft. l

13. In combination Witha steering shaft, a Vstationary casingy therefor, a removablehead mounted on` and to rotate with the shaft, a removable Wheel structure rigidly mounted on the head, locking means adapted to positive-ly locky the wheel structure and the head together or lock the Wheel structure and head against rotation relative to said casing and to prevent the head or Wheel structure from being removed from said shaft.

14. In combination with a steering shaft,

carried by the head adapted to engage the stationary member to prevent the Wheel, the head and the shaft from rotating.

l5. In combination with a steering shaft, f

a head adapted to be secured thereon, said head having a recess, the Wall of .which is provided with notches, a steering', Wheel structure comprising a hub and arms, lthe hub adapted to be seated in said recess of the head and the arms adapted to be received in said notches, the shaft including a key which serves to secure said head and the.

Wheel structure to the shaft.

' FREDERICK VINCENT. 

